Piano bench



Aug. 3 ,1926.

2. Sheetwhst l E. A. HoFF Erm., g

PIANG BENGH lmed Feb, a, laas Aug. 3

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Patented Aug. 3, 1926.`

UNlTED-STATES PA'lENT EDWARD A. HOFF ANI)v WILLIAM C. SANFGRD, F LAOROYA, PERU.`-

PIANO BENCH.

Application filed February 5, 1925. Serial No. 7,132.

This invention isa pianobench, and the object of the invention is toprovide for adjusting the height of the seat port-ion of the bench in avery simple and convenient manner, Aand to provide i'or housingtheadjust ing mechanism so as not to detract from the usual appearanceof the bench. The bench is oi' the usual type including a boi: orcabinet for containing boolzs and sheet. music, and the' cabinet has theusual hinged. top to give access to the interior ci the cabinet and alsoto form the seat proper.

While the adjusting mechanismis housed within the cabinet, there is ahandfwheel located below the bottom ci the cabinet where it isconveniently accessible iloractuating the adjusting mechanism to raiseand lower the cabinet which is mounted for vertical adjustingmovementson a stationary base. The base and the cabinet are constructedfor convenient assemblagaand spring mechanism is employed tomaintain"thel interlitting parts of the base and cabinet in properrelation, ther-eby-toprevent looseness oi' parts andwvabbling ot thecabinet upon the base. With these and other'objectsin view, the presentfinvention consists in the combination and arrangementoi'l parts aswillfbe hereinafter more fullydescribed', illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and particu.h larlylpointed out in the appended`claims, it of course being understoodthat changesin the'form,proportion, size and minor details may be made, within the scope of theclaims, without departing from the spirit or sacri ticing any ot theadvantages of the invention.

in the drawings;

Figure 1 is a vertical'longitudinal sectional View of a piano lbenchembodyingthe fea.- tures of the present'inventionand -talrencn the `line1 1 of Figure 2;

`Figure 2 is a top plan vview oi the improved piano bench with the.hingeditop removed Figure 3y is a cross sectional view on the line 3 3of Figure 1, the seatfor top being shown in an elevated position;

Figure il is airagmentary"enlarged sectional view illustrating the'cabinet portion oi' the bench in an elevated position;

Figure 5is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken onthe line 5 5ot Figure 2;

Fgure 6 is an enlarged detail sectional view Vtalren on the line 6 6 ofFigure v1.

Figure isan enlarged `fragmentary sectional view showingtlie i'errulelat the bottomfoi" one of the hollow leg-members.

The base is made up of a plurality of standards 1, there beingfourstandards employed in the embodiment of the invention the longitudinalsides 10 in any preferred manner in order that it .may be lit-tedupwardly to 'give access to the interior of the cabinet whichis designedto contain books and sheet music as usual.

At each corner of the box orV cabinetthere is a` hollow leg member 12connected to the side 10 and the end 9 in any suitable mam ner, and openat its top and bottom; About midway of the length oi the leg there is atransverse web or. partition `13, having an openingl 14 extendingcentrally theren .through for the reception oi the spindle portion i oi'the ystandard 1. The interior otthe lower sleeve-lilre portion 15.ofythe leg is of 'a shape and size to telescope closely with thestandard portion 1, whereby the lcabinet and Iits'leg members may bemoved up and down on the standards l. end of the .sleeve-like portion 15of each leg ismade very thin and: provided with a metal iierrule Btorthe purpose of minimiz ing the appearance of the joint between the lowerendv of vthe 4leg` and the standardv 1. The interior ofthe upper hollowportion of .each leg 12 is of a size to @accommodatea ofthe leg centeredon the standard 1 during up andidown movements of the leg when ad- Thelower justing the height of the box or cabinet. The top of this cap orhead 17 is convex, and rising from the central portion thereof is a loopor eye 18 having a purpose as will be hereinafter explained.

The mechanism for raising and lowering,

the cabinet on the stationary base includes levers 19, four of whichhave been indicated in Figure 2 of the drawings. Each lever is housedbetween one of the si'des 10 of the cabinet and an interior board orpanel 20. rlhe lever has its outer end extending loosely through avertical slot 12 in the upper tubular portion of the adjacent leg andalso through the eye 18 and bearing upon the convexed top of the head orcap 17 as a fulcrum. An intermediate portion of the lever is pivotedwithin the bifurcated tcp portion of a bracket 2i rising from andsuitably secured to the bottom 8 of the cabinet. The inner end of thelever is slotted, as at 22, best shown in Figure 6 of thedrawings, andthis slotted inner end of the lever is received in the bifurcatedadjacent end of a head 23 carried by an arm 24: which in turn extendsoutwardly from a nut 25, the latter being located midway between thesides and ends of the cabinet and housed between partitions or panels 26extending transversely across the middle interior portion of thecabinet. The slot 22 of the lever receives a pivot pin 27 extendingtransersely across the bifurcated portion of the head 23. v The nut 25receives an upstanding screw 28 and extends downwardly through' thebottom 8 of the cabinet and is provided at its lower end with ahandwheel 29 accessible beneath the bottom of the cabinet. The lowerportion of the screw .28 has an unthreaded part which carries upper andlower collars 30 suitably fixed tothe screw and bearing against top andbottom wear-plates 31v suitably secured to the bottom board 8, wherebythe screw is swiveled in the bottom board and may be rotatedbymanipulation of the hand wheei 29 without imparting vertical movement tothe' screw. Rotation of the screw will feed the nut 25 either up or downaccording to the direction of rotation of the screw, and this movementofthe nut will be translated through the arms 2st and the heads 23 tothe levers 19, the outer ends of which are fulcrumed upon the tops ofthe stationary standards of the base, whereby the box or cabinet will beraised or lowered in accordance with the direction of feed of the nut.

In the lowermost position of the box or cabinet, as shown in Figure 1 ofthe drawings, each spring 16 will be in its extended condition, but whenthe box or kcabinet is elevated, the spring will be compressed, as shownin Figure 4, for the reason that it is held against upward movementby'the head or cap 17 lixed to the top of the base standard, and thereforevthe spring will be compressed between the head 17 and the web 13,

so that under all conditions a spring tension will be maintained inopposite directions against theparts13 and 17, which will maintain eachtelescopic leg member in proper relation with its cooperating basestandard thereby to prevent looseness of parts andv wabbling of the boxor cabinet.

The levers of the elevating mechanism of the present invention `aredisposed within the cabinet, adjacent the longitudinal sides thereof andeffectually housed between said sides the interior panel members 20, andthe top pieces 30, while the screw 28 and the nut 25 andthe arms 24. arehoused between the interior cross panels of partitions 26, whereby theinterior of the cabinet at opposite sides of its middle is free andunobstructed andv therefore may be utilized for containing boolrs andsheet music.- l/Vith the exception of the handwheel 29, all of themechanism is protected and concealed from view, so that the` piano benchhas the appearance of the usual type of bench, and at the same time `thecabinet may be conveniently raised and lowered to suit the desires ofthe user of the bench.

Vhat is claimed is:

1. A piano bench comprising standards, f

a cabinet constituting -a seat and having leg members telescoping withthe standards, a plurality of cabinet elevating devices housed withinthe cabinet and cooperating with the respective standards,v and a singlehand operated means common tothe several elevating devices for actuatingthe same, said hand operated means being located and alsoaccessiblebeneath the bottom of the cabinet. A

2. A piano bench comprising standards, a cabinet constituting a seat andhaving leg members telescoping with the standards, a n

plurality of cabinet elevating devices housedv within the cabinet andincluding levers fulcrumed upon the standards, `and a. single handoperated means lcommon to the several levers for `actuating 'the levers,said hand operated means being located and also accessible beneath thebottom of the cabinet.

3. A piano bench comprising standards,

standards, brackets` carried by the cabinet and having the respectivelevers pivotally connected thereto, a vertically traveling nut havingarms extending therefrom, a cross head on each arm, each lever beingpivotally connected to one of the cross heads, and an elevating screwsiviveled upon the cabinet and having the nut mounted thereon.

5. A piano bench comprising standards, a seat having leg memberstelescoping with the standards, manually operable seat e1evating meanscarried by the seat and cooperating with the standards, and meansmaintaining a spring tension in a Vertical direction against thestandards and the upper ends or' the leg` members and in opposition tothe elevation of the. seat and its leg members.

6. A piano bench comprising standards, a bench having leg memberstelescoping with the standards, a helical spring embracing a portion ofeach standard and bearing at opposite ends against the standard and theadjacent leg member, and means for elevating the seat and its legmembers.

7. A piano bench comprising standards, a bench having leg memberstelescoping with the standards, each standard having an abutment Withinthe enclosing leg member, each leg member having an internal abutment, ahelical spring embracing each standard and bearing at opposite endsagainst the abutment of the leg member and the abutment of the standard,and seat elevat ing means carried by the seat and cooperating wvith thestandards for elevating the seat and itsV leg members on the standards.8. A piano bench comprising a cabinet having a displaceable top,standards, leg members depending from the cabinet and telescoping Withthe standards, longitudinal compartments Within the cabinet at the frontand back thereof, a transverse com partment connecting the front andback compartments in the middle of the cabinet, a pair of levers mountedin each longitudinal compartment, each lever being pivoted intermediateof its ends Within the compartment, the outer end `oit each lever beingfulcrumed upon one of the standards, a cross head Within the transversecompartment and carrying a nut, the inner ends of each pair ot' leversbeing pivotally and slidably connected to the adjacent end of the crosshead, and a screw sWiveled through the bottom of the cabinet andextending through the nut, the lower end of the screvv projecting belowthe bottom of the cabinet and providedv/ith an operating handle.

EDWARD A. HOFF. WVILLIAM C. SANFORD,

